Celebrating Greek Orthodox Easter

So seeing as it's the Holy Week, I thought I would take a minute to explain why we Greeks (Orthodox) celebrate differently to the rest of the world. Some people think that Orthodox Easter is about lamb on the spit and a different Easter date. But why do we do things "differently"?

While Easter is a 40 day event (Sarakosti), it all comes down to Holy Week, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. This is the week leading up to and celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even though I don't attend church that often, I find that the ceremonies I attend are beautiful.

We also fast either for 40 days, or Holy Week. This means once you have fish as your only protein on Palm Sunday, the rest of the week we abstain from meat, dairy, alcohol and sex. With so many yummy Greek recipes, and vegan, too, there's no end to options. Lenten fasting is over after the Paschal Divine Liturgy on Saturday. To break the fast, a dish of Magiritsa is served, followed by the cracking of red eggs. The red eggs symbolise the blood of Christ and rebirth. The eggs are cracked together with another person's egg, the cracker says "Christos Anesti" (Christ Has Risen) and the other person responds "Alithos Anesti" (Truly He Has Risen). This greeting is also used for the 40 days following Easter. One thing that people do that is annoying is replying "Alithos, mate". To me, that takes away the meaning behind it.

Right, so after midnight, you've gone to sleep with a tummy full of gut soup and eggs, what do you get for lunch? That's right, lamb on the spit! The day is filled with family, friends and most importantly FOOD!

So why do we celebrate on a different date? The Eastern Orthodox Church follows the Gregorian calendar, in most years Western Christian churches and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on different dates. In 2013, for example, Easter will be celebrated on March 31 by Western churches and May 5 by Orthodox churches. But in 2011, the two celebrations occurred on the same date, April 24. The formula for Easter- the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox" - is identical for both Western and Orthodox Easters, but the churches base the dates on different calendars: Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar for much of the world, and Orthodox churches use the older, Julian calendar.

I wanted to write more but I couldn't think of anything else. Maybe this should be a small Paschal series?

Planning a Big Fat Greek Wedding, Part 1

Stage 1? Panic! Stage 2 - take a deep breath, write a gazillion lists and stay calm. Just less than 18 months to go!! At the moment, I'm looking at wedding stefana as we will be married in the Greek Orthodox church.

Stefana are a crucial part of an Orthodox wedding, as follows:

In a traditional Greek wedding ceremony the bride and groom are crowned with Stefana. Stefana being dual crowns; each crown being linked together with a single length of ribbon symbolising the joining of two souls and the creation of a new household. It is a symbol of combining two people as one. As a married couple they become the king and queen of their household. These crowns represent the signs of wisdom, justice, intregity, glory, honour when the king and queen are crowned. After the wedding the wedding crowns or Stafana are kept in a safe place representing the couple's commitment. Stefana or wedding crowns are intended to be kept for life forming eternal memories for the bride and groom

To me, they represent the most beautiful part of a wedding ceremony, linking man and woman into husband and wife, like a beautiful bond.

When M & I get married, we will not purchase our Stefana, as this will be done by our Koumbara (wedding sponsor). I am a control freak, and usually can't stand the thought of someone buying something for me if

Back in my parents day, Stefana looked very 1980's. My grandparents would have used something basic, white and beautiful. My great grandparents (although I have never seen a picture) would have worn Stefana that would have been very basic, functional and plain. But this does not take away from the symbolism.

Here are what they look like, and what I like, but this is for "research purposes".










My precious!!




Beautiful!
 



Old school as!


Basic, but gorgeous!

I should make this a series! Weddings are an interesting thing to plan while renovating...